The Latvian country tourism association Lauku Celotajs as project beneficiary of the Interreg Central Baltic project "Exporting Baltic Nature Tourism to UK - NAT-TOUR-EXPO" - participates as host organisation in the Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) initiative.

The annual Nordic International Cider Awards (NICA) will be held from September 6th to 9th as part of "RigaFood 2023," the largest food industry fair in the Baltic region. Cider production is a new industry in Latvia, but already now Latvian natural cider competes on an equal footing with European, Nordic, and global ciders from countries and regions with long-standing cider-making traditions. By organising the NICA competition in Riga this year, we want to showcase the excellent quality and potential of natural cider to become a national beverage, similar to the Nordic countries where cider is served at state receptions as well as social gatherings.

Turpinot darbu pie dabas tūrisma produkta izstrādes, 10. un 11. maijā uz saulainās Prangli salas Igaunijā tikāmies ne vien projekta partneri, bet arī Latvijas un Igaunijas uzņēmēji, kas sniedz dabas tūrisma produktus, projekta vadības grupa un Apvienotās Karalistes dabas tūrisma eksperti. Esam uz pareizā ceļa un mums ir plāns kā aizsniegt UK tirgu. Projekta partneru tikšanos papildināja iespēja iepazīties ar Prangli salas dabas tūrisma piedāvājumu - braucieni ar jūras kajakiem, velo maršruti iepazīšana, pārgājienu takas, u.c.

We have started work on the project "Change creators. Innovative business models for the non-urban creative sectors.". The main aim of the project is to contribute to innovation, sustainability and resilience of the alternative cultural and creative places located on the sparsely populated areas through discovering, testing and introducing new business models and audience development models. The project brought together partners from four countries: Poland, Sweden, Italy and Latvia.

This year, we have launched a new Baltic nature tourism project with the aim of developing a joint Latvian and Estonian nature tourism product adapted to the interest of UK tourists, positioning it in the market using a special marketing campaign, and increasing sales volumes.

We are looking for service providers who offer nature tourism services and wish to join this nature tourism web platform for the UK market.
To get involved, please fill out the application form, indicating the nature tourism services you provide: https://forms.gle/zrEXFrH5PBjvQocB9.

Kick-off project partner meeting, 25th of January, 2023, Riga.
The objectives of the project are to develop a joint Latvian-Estonian nature tourism product tailored for the UK market, to launch it through a dedicated marketing campaign, and to achieve sales. The nature tourism product will be based on individual SME nature tourism products, professionally packaged and accessible from an innovative specialized nature tourism web platform linking directly product providers with the market - free independent travellers, specialized interest groups, and tour operator companies specialized in Baltic countries. The nature tourism product will include wildlife and birding holidays, nature photography, soft adventure: hiking, walking, cycling, boating, and also touring programs to include elements and values of nature, e.g., botanical, wildlife spotting, wellness/Spa, food and foraging. This concept meets the current demand in the UK market where nature tourism, escape to nature, rural holidays, outdoors wildlife are on-trend words.

Presentations:

>>> Meeting minutes

An important and frightening part of the "legacy" of the First and Second World Wars - CHEMICAL WEAPONS - has been sunk to the bottom of the Baltic Sea. You could call it a kind of time bomb. Below are just a few facts described in scientific publications.

From December 13 to 15, the team of the project "Rural Tour: Training Program for Sustainable Rural Tourism" met for the sixth meeting of the Steering Committee. It was coordinated by Trabzon Ortahisar Municipality and held in Trabzon, Turkey. For several reasons, partners from Ireland only joined online via Zoom platform.

Rudens un ziema Latvijā ir visstiprāko vēju laiks. Arī visspēcīgākās vētras un orkāni (par orkānu dēvējam viesuļvētru, ja vēja vidējais ātrums 10 minūtēs sasniedz un pārsniedz 32,7 m/s) mūsu jūras krastā bijuši g.k. laikā no septembra līdz janvārim. Vai šajā gadu mijā piedzīvosim vēl kādu stipru vētru? Pievienotajā attēlā redzamas pagājušā gadsimta spēcīgākās vētras. Sistemātiska vēja brāzmu reģistrācija tika uzsākta tikai 20. gs. piecdesmito gadu otrajā pusē, tāpēc šajā sarakstā nav iekļauta, piemēram, 1953. g. janvāra/februāra mijas vētra, kad vējš brāzmās esot sasniedzis 34 m/s. To uzskata arī par vienu no postošākajām dabas katastrofām Baltijas jūras reģionā. Minētajā vētrā Anglijā gāja bojā 307 cilvēki, Skotijā – 19, Beļģijā – 28, Nīderlandē – 1836, bet jūrā noslīka – 361 cilvēks. Kuru no vētrām Tu piedzīvoji un atceries?

From November 1 to 4, the BESTbelt conference was held in Ulcinj, Montenegro. During it, they talked about the strengthening of the European "Green Belt" (GB) territory, the creation of new green jobs and the potential of the GB for climate protection and nature restoration. It was also possible to hear success stories about the restoration and protection of nature in this area. There was a fair with traditional food and drink from the GB area, as well as various group activities and trips to visit local best practices, learn more about them, exchange ideas and discuss the potential of green jobs, restoration measures, positives and negatives aspects.